Oliver Takes Charge
by Marathon Zack 140.6
Summary: Rewrite of Lauriver's first meeting post-island, where Oliver is a little more sure in what he wants, a little less obsessed with pushing Laurel away every time he isn't getting closer to her, and some of his pre-island personality survived. LAURIVER [Laurel x Oliver]


**A/N: Rewrite of Lauriver's first meeting post-island. While I think Oliver's "apology" in the actual show was rather weak, I can't exactly condone this as the best route for him to have taken either, nor am I saying Laurel should have gone along with it if he had, but it was just begging me to be written. There can always stand to be another Lauriver story, and I don't think it's the worst way this scene could have gone, and Oliver has the pre-island reputation to possibly get by with this.**

**A/N 2: Like the rest of my Lauriver stories, Oliver only cheated with Sara, because there're already too many characters in this show and I think the fact he slept with his girlfriend's _sister_ loses some of it's potency if he cheated with other girls as well — it makes Sara just some other girl, imo.**

**A/N 3: Lastly, this Laurel never slept with Tommy after Oliver died. That's subtly referenced in the story, but it's never clearly stated.**

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_"__Why are you here, Ollie?"_

Oliver looked down at her for a second, before in one swift motion stepping up to her and placing his hand on the back of her head, leaning down and kissing her firmly on the lips. Several seconds later he pulled back, and Laurel stared up at him in shock.

So before that shock could turn to anger, he quickly began, "I am so, _so_ sorry for cheating on you, Laurel. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I completely threw it away. I also want to apologize for being the cause of your sister dying. Even if I didn't physically kill her, my actions resulted in her death. And for that I am truly sorry.

"But Laurel, I want you to know that you're what kept me going on that island, what enabled me to make it back here alive. And I know you don't want to be with me now, or probably ever, and for very, very good reason, but Laurel, I still care about you, and I always will. I totally screwed everything up, and I can never make up for that, but I really hope you can one day find it in you to forgive me for what I did to you and your sister and your family."

He paused for a second, as if deciding whether he should really say whatever he was about to say, before plunging on anyway.

"And Laurel — I want you back. I know it's ridiculous to think I could ever have you again after what I did, but I want you back. I screwed up, I screwed _around_, and it was terrible of me, and I am so sorry, but I've spent the past five years wanting to get back to you, wanting to get back _with_ you — in every single meaning of that word."

If Laurel hadn't been staring at him in shock enough during his apology, she certainly was now at his declaration of love — well, those weren't exactly the words he'd used, but she'd known him long enough to know that's what he meant.

She continued to gape up at him for several more seconds.

"You want me back?" she asked in disbelief.

She wasn't entirely sure though what exactly it was that she was in such disbelief about — that he thought she'd ever go back to him, or that he sincerely seemed to want to be back with her and genuinely seemed to regret everything he'd done.

Oliver stepped back up close to her, and cupped her face with both his hands.

"Yes, Laurel, I do. More than anything in the world," he said before dipping back down and softly giving her a quick kiss. He pulled back almost immediately, but left his hands on her face.

Laurel of course hadn't kissed back either time, but to her great surprise, she hadn't felt the urge to slap the shit out of him either time, either, like she logically knew she should.

"Oliver, you cheated on me and killed my sister. I can't just go back to dating you after you return from the dead after five years after doing that to me!" she replied, mostly because she knew it was the _right_ thing to say. Because the various possible outcomes of this conversation were already beginning to form in her mind, and almost every version of it involved them parting ways with her as his girlfriend again — and that scared her substantially less than she knew it should.

Rather than replying, knowing he had no words to shift this conversation in his favor, as she really shouldn't do what he wanted her to do and they both knew it, but also knowing she was right on the verge of giving in to him, he leaned back down and ghosted his lips against hers, tempting her to return it.

Laurel closed her eyes, trying for several seconds not to give in, but Oliver's lips remained persistent against hers, until she finally snapped and moved her lips harshly against his, pouring out all her frustration and anger and hatred towards him into her kiss. Before she knew it'd happened, their tongues were battling each other for dominance and both her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, in a scene that would have embarrassed her if she'd had enough thought left to remember they were in a public space.

When the need to breathe again finally broke them apart, Oliver didn't give her any time to think before saying urgently, "Let me show you how much I've missed you, how much I've regretted not being able to be with you for the last five years because of my stupidity and selfishness."

Knowing it was a terrible idea, but wanting it as badly as he clearly did too, she nodded her head quickly before grabbing his hand off her face with hers and turning and dragging him off towards her car. They tumbled into her bed soon after, their clothes scattered across the floor of her apartment in a path from the door to her bedroom.

When Laurel collapsed onto his chest a short time later, both of them spent, she waited for the impending feeling of regret to come crashing, or at least descending, down on her. But by the time their breathing had evened out, it still hadn't come. She didn't exactly think what they'd just done had been the greatest idea ever, and she still feared it was all going to explode in spectacular fashion soon enough, but she wasn't regretting it, and depending on how things went from there, she thought it just might not have even been a mistake.

But it didn't mean she didn't think Oliver hadn't been just a bit over the line.

"You're a dick, Oliver. That shouldn't have worked. You can't just come on to a girl you cheated on that strongly and have her fall into bed again with you instead of slapping the shit out of you like you deserve," she scolded.

"And yet I'm not getting the impression that you regret what we just did," replied Oliver with far too much of a smirk for her liking, so she quickly kissed it off him, even if it proved his point.

"Shut up before I take back agreeing to resume our relationship," she glared at him when she pulled back several seconds later.

"So we're resuming our relationship, are we?" smirked Oliver in return. It was quickly becoming an annoying habit of his in Laurel's opinion — only she was allowed to smirk.

"Unlike _certain_ people in this room, _I've_ never been one to do one night, or one afternoon, stands, even if they are with someone I was previously involved with," growled Laurel. "I only sleep with someone I'm seriously dating, which means as bad of an idea as I think this might be, I'm apparently dating you again."

"Thank you, Laurel," said Oliver sincerely.

"Don't thank me yet. Just prove I'm not completely insane for doing this."


End file.
